292 
A TEKKIBLE DTSAPPOIXTMENT. 
secret of tlieir army of two milliona, against which so 
many timid people in the United States were afraid to 
send so small a squadron as Perry's. I sincerely believe 
that Commodore Perry, with the force he then had at his 
command, could have waged a successful war against the 
whole empire of Japan. 
At 2 P.M., the weather moderating and the fog lifting, 
wc struck every thing in haste, and proceeded on for 
West Point. Just before slioving off, however, we re- 
ceived a present from the “headman,” in the shape of 
two ordinary chicken-cocks, Avhich caused us to rub our 
hands as the hour for supper crossed our minds, I don’t 
know what wc should have done, in lieu of rubbing our 
hands, had we known to what respect their extreme age 
and toughness entitled them: they proved impenetrable 
to even our sciuwy-threatened teeth. 
This is one of the many rewards attendant upon a 
cruise of that nature. We were forced to live upon salt 
beef, ditto pork, and insipid preserved meats, for (in this 
case) eight months, with forty gallons of lime-juice on 
hand to retard the arrival of the scurvy. But to return 
to more pleasant subjects. 
Three or four hours carried us into a small cove in the 
vicinity of West Point, partially sheltered from the surf 
by sunken and other rocks, in which we dropped anchor, 
pitched tent, and made other preparations for passing the 
night. It was here that we discovered the great anti- 
quity of our presents; and, a new set of the ever-watchful 
Japanese coming on us about this time, and signing us to 
shoot some ducks, we readily complied with their intima- 
tion, producing them a raomcTitary gratification and our- 
